Keen Mind

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham's intellect is as sharp as her saber. She's always on point.

Colleagues celebrated the new Glen De Vries dean of the Mellon College of Science who is also a world-class fencer at her installation ceremony on Thursday, April 3.

"It's no secret that she's deeply beloved and admired here at CMU," said CMU President Farnam Jahanian.

The dean installation took place during Carnegie Mellon's Spring Carnival, an annual celebration that brings Tartans back to campus.

"This year's Carnival theme is Hollywood, which is quite fitting as we celebrate Dr. Shinn-Cunningham — a true CMU 'star' — as she steps into her deanship," said CMU's Provost and Chief Academic Officer James H. Garrett Jr. "Barb is an innovator, a leader and a passionate educator who has had a positive impact on this university since joining Carnegie Mellon in 2018."

Jahanian and Garrett formally installed Shinn-Cunningham and presented her with a quaich. CMU provides deans with the ceremonial drinking cup, which symbolizes new ventures and mutual trust between the giver and receiver. In Scottish tradition, a quaich (pronounced "quake") is offered in friendship or welcome.

Shinn-Cunningham shared that, as a scientist, she spent time mentoring students and postdocs, teaching them how to be deep and inventive thinkers.

"It took some soul searching before I was ready to step back from 30 years as a scientist-mentor to take on the responsibilities of dean," she said. "But I realized that being dean of the Mellon College of Science would enable me to mentor and help not just individuals but the entire community that makes up the college. I would have the chance to make CMU better by elevating MCS."

Shinn-Cunningham, who is the eighth dean to lead MCS, joined Carnegie Mellon in 2018 as the founding director of the Neuroscience Institute and the George A. and Helen Dunham Cowan Professor of Auditory Neuroscience. She held courtesy appointments in the departments of Psychology, Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her appointment as dean was announced in September 2024.

"When I first committed to becoming dean in September, I was excited. But now, I feel an urgency in our mission," she said. "As scientists, we excel at bringing clarity — solving problems head-on and steering through uncertainty. These challenges have only strengthened my resolve to be an unwavering advocate for MCS. I will champion facts, defend our work, and stand firm for the scientists who face increasing scrutiny simply for seeking truth."

Tim Verstynen, the interim head of the Neuroscience Institute, said she has endless energy, boundless compassion and is fearless.

"It's both intimidating and oddly comforting to know that your boss is proficient with a sword," Verstynen said, referencing her skill as a fencer. Shinn-Cunningham was a member of the 2019 Veteran U.S. Women's saber team that took third place at the world championship. "You can see that same courage and strategic thinking in her professional choices. Coming to CMU to build a brand-new institute from the ground up was a big risk. People who play it safe simply don't do that."

Before joining CMU, she spent 21 years on the faculty of Boston University. In addition to directing the Neuroscience Institute at Carnegie Mellon, Shinn-Cunningham leads two large-scale Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative projects funded by the Office of Naval Research, each of which brings together researchers from different backgrounds at different institutions to address problems that cannot be solved through individual disciplines.

An author of more than 200 scientific articles, she is recognized for her expertise in spatial hearing, auditory attention and sensory hearing deficits. She succeeds Rebecca Doerge and interim dean and current Otto Stern Professor of Physics Curtis Meyer.

Glen de Vries, a 1994 graduate of the Mellon College of Science, endowed the Mellon College of Science deanship in 2017. The alumnus and Board of Trustee member died in 2021, but his legacy as a champion of the Mellon College of Science's vision for a technology-driven future of science echoed throughout the installation ceremony. Shinn-Cunningham said she worked with him as the director of the Neuroscience Institute.

"He was brilliant, creative, and dynamic. He was a faithful and generous supporter of the Mellon College of Science, and of science more broadly - both within Carnegie Mellon, and in the world," she said.

Shinn-Cunningham has degrees in electrical engineering from Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research combines behavioral, neuroimaging and computational methods to understand how the brain processes sound. She has received honors from thethe Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Whitaker Foundation and the Vannevar Bush Fellows program.

Shinn-Cunningham is the president of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), and in 2019, she accepted its Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal in Psychological and Physiological Acoustics, Speech Communication, and Architectural Acoustics. She previously served as the treasurer/secretary of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. Her mentorship has been recognized by awards from both the ASA and the Society for Neuroscience. She is a Fellow of the ASA, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a lifetime member of the National Research Council.